Mobile discrete data documentation

ABSTRACT

Systems, methods, and computer-readable media for transferring data from a medical device to a patient&#39;s electronic medical record are provided. Initially, a medical device and a patient are identified, such as by scanning a barcode or searching in an electronically-searchable database. Once identified, the medical device and the patient area associated, and data from the medical device is acquired and sent to a form that allows a user to edit the data or add other information. The user may then indicate that the data is ready to be transmitted to the patient&#39;s electronic medical record. The medical device and the patient may now be disassociated. The disassociation may be implicit, so that it is not required that a user provide an indication that the patient and medical device are to be disassociated. Rather, the disassociation may occur upon transmittal of the data to the patient&#39;s EMR.

BACKGROUND

Traditionally, transmitting patient information, such as data from amedical device to a patient's electronic medical record (EMR), has beena difficult, error-prone, and time-consuming process for the user, suchas a clinician, who is responsible for taking the vitals from thepatient and transferring the data to the patient's EMR. For example,when a patient's vitals are taken, such as temperature, blood pressure,heart rate, etc., a clinician may use a medical device to take thevitals and write down the data on a piece of paper, only to record thedata in the patient's EMR at some later time. This manual transfer ofdata oftentimes results in error both in accurately recording the data,and recording the data in the correct patient's EMR, as there is nopositive verification that the patient from which the data was taken isthe same patient to which the EMR belongs. Additionally, as mentioned,transcription errors are probable, given that this method may takeseveral hours from the time the data is written down or otherwiserecorded from the medical device, until the time that it is recordedinto the patient's EMR.

SUMMARY

This Summary is provided to introduce a selection of concepts in asimplified form that are further described below in the DetailedDescription. This Summary is not intended to identify key features oressential features of the claimed subject matter, nor is it intended tobe used as an aid in determining the scope of the claimed subjectmatter. The present invention is defined by the claims.

Embodiments of the present invention provide systems and methods forefficiently and effectively recording data from a medical device into apatient's EMR. A medical device may be transferred from room to room bya clinician, and associated with various patients such that data can betaken from the medical device that corresponds to the patient who isassociated at that time. This data may then be transferred to anapplication that allows the clinician to edit the data or add otherinformation corresponding to the patient prior to the data beingtransmitted to the patient's EMR. This process may take a fraction ofthe time that the manual transfer of data takes, as described above, andis much more efficient than manually entering the data from the medicaldevice into the patient's EMR. In addition to editing or adding otherinformation, a user may verify the data, and then indicate, such as byselecting a designated button, that the data is ready to be transmittedto the patient's EMR. Once the data has been transmitted, the patientand the medical device may be disassociated so that another patient canbe identified, and data can be acquired from the medical device thatcorresponds to the newly associated patient.

More particularly, a first aspect of an embodiment of the presentinvention includes one or more computer-readable storage media havingcomputer-executable instructions embodied thereon, that, when executedperform a method for electronically transferring data associated with apatient from a medical device to an EMR that corresponds to the patient.The method includes receiving an identification of the medical device,receiving an identification of a first patient, and receiving a userselection to associate the first patient to the medical device. Further,the method includes, in response to receiving the user selection toassociate the first patient to the first medical device, acquiring thedata associated with the first patient from the medical device, andcommunicating the data for display in a format that allows a user tomanipulate the data. The method additionally includes receiving anindication that the data is to be transmitted to the EMR thatcorresponds to the patient, and transmitting the data to the EMR thatcorresponds to the first patient. Upon transmitting the data to the EMR,the method also includes disassociating the first patient and themedical device such that a second patient can be associated to themedical device.

In a second aspect, embodiments of the present invention are directedtoward a system having a processor and one or more computer-readablestorage media for electronically transferring data associated with apatient from a medical device to an EMR that corresponds to the patient.The system includes a receiving component for receiving identificationsfor the patient and the medical device, an associating component forassociating the patient to the medical device in response to receivingan indication that the patient and the medical device are to beassociated, and an acquiring component for acquiring the data from themedical device that is associated with the patient. The system furtherincludes a transmitting component for transmitting the acquired data toa requesting application so that the data can be manipulated prior tobeing stored in the EMR corresponding to the patient. Additionally, thesystem includes a publishing component for publishing the data to theEMR that corresponds to the patient in response to receiving anindication that the data is to be transmitted to the EMR.

A further aspect of an embodiment of the present invention takes theform of one or more computer-readable storage media havingcomputer-executable instructions embodied thereon, that, when executedperform a method for electronically transferring data associated with apatient from a medical device to an EMR that corresponds to the patient.The method includes receiving an identification of a first patient,receiving an identification of the medical device, and in response toreceiving the identification of the medical device, acquiring the dataassociated with the first patient from the medical device. Further, themethod includes associating the first patient and the medical device toone another, communicating the data for display such that the data canbe manipulated by a user, and receiving an indication that the data isto be transmitted to the first patient's EMR. The method additionallyincludes transmitting the data to the first patient's EMR, wherein oncethe data is transmitted to the first patient's EMR, the first patientand the medical device are no longer associated.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

Embodiments are described in detail below with reference to the attacheddrawing figures, wherein:

FIG. 1 is a block diagram of an exemplary computing environment suitablefor use in implementing embodiments of the present invention;

FIG. 2 is an exemplary system architecture suitable for use inimplementing embodiments of the present invention;

FIG. 3 is a block diagram of an exemplary system, in accordance with anembodiment of the present invention;

FIG. 4 is an illustrative flow diagram of a method for electronicallytransferring data associated with a patient from a medical device to anelectronic medical record (EMR) corresponding to a patient, inaccordance with an embodiment of the present invention;

FIG. 5 is an illustrative flow diagram of a method for electronicallytransferring data associated with a patient from a medical device to anelectronic medical record (EMR) corresponding in accordance with anembodiment of the present invention;

FIG. 6 is an illustrative screen display showing a selected device, inaccordance with an embodiment of the present invention;

FIG. 7 is an illustrative screen display showing a selected patient anda selected device that have been associated, in accordance with anembodiment of the present invention;

FIG. 8 is an illustrative screen display showing data acquired from amedical device, in accordance with an embodiment of the presentinvention;

FIG. 9 is an illustrative screen display showing a patient having beendisassociated from the medical device upon data associated with thepatient having been transmitted to the patient's EMR;

FIG. 10 is an illustrative screen display showing a patient's EMR afterreceiving transmitted data from a medical device, in accordance with anembodiment of the present invention;

FIG. 11 is an illustrative screen display showing a method of searchingfor a patient in a database, in accordance with an embodiment of thepresent invention;

FIG. 12 is an illustrative screen display showing an identified patient,in accordance with an embodiment of the present invention;

FIG. 13 is an illustrative screen display showing data acquired from amedical device, in accordance with an embodiment of the presentinvention; and

FIG. 14 is an illustrative screen display showing a previouslyidentified patient and medical device having been disassociated anddeleted from the display, in accordance with an embodiment of thepresent invention.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION

The subject matter of the present invention is described withspecificity herein to meet statutory requirements. However, thedescription itself is not intended to limit the scope of this patent.Rather, the inventors have contemplated that the claimed subject mattermight also be embodied in other ways, to include different steps orcombinations of steps similar to the ones described in this document, inconjunction with other present or future technologies. Moreover,although the terms “step” and/or “block” may be used herein to connotedifferent elements of methods employed, the terms should not beinterpreted as implying any particular order among or between varioussteps herein disclosed unless and except when the order of individualsteps is explicitly described.

Having briefly described embodiments of the present invention, anexemplary operating environment suitable for use in implementingembodiments of the present invention is described below.

Referring to the drawings in general, and initially to FIG. 1 inparticular, an exemplary computing system environment, for instance, amedical information computing system environment, with which embodimentsof the present invention may be implemented is illustrated anddesignated generally as reference numeral 20. It will be understood andappreciated by those of ordinary skill in the art that the illustratedmedical information computing system environment 20 is merely an exampleof one suitable computing environment and is not intended to suggest anylimitation as to the scope of use or functionality of the invention.Neither should the medical information computing system environment 20be interpreted as having any dependency or requirement relating to anysingle component or combination of components illustrated therein.

The present invention may be operational with numerous other generalpurpose or special purpose computing system environments orconfigurations. Examples of well-known computing systems, environments,and/or configurations that may be suitable for use with the presentinvention include, by way of example only, personal computers, servercomputers, hand-held or laptop devices, multiprocessor systems,microprocessor-based systems, set top boxes, programmable consumerelectronics, network PCs, minicomputers, mainframe computers,distributed computing environments that include any of theabove-mentioned systems or devices, and the like.

The present invention may be described in the general context ofcomputer-executable instructions, such as program modules, beingexecuted by a computer. Generally, program modules include, but are notlimited to, routines, programs, objects, components, and data structuresthat perform particular tasks or implement particular abstract datatypes. The present invention may also be practiced in distributedcomputing environments where tasks are performed by remote processingdevices that are linked through a communications network. In adistributed computing environment, program modules may be located inassociation with local and/or remote computer storage media including,by way of example only, memory storage devices.

With continued reference to FIG. 1, the exemplary medical informationcomputing system environment 20 includes a general purpose computingdevice in the form of a control server 22. Components of the controlserver 22 may include, without limitation, a processing unit, internalsystem memory, and a suitable system bus for coupling various systemcomponents, including database cluster 24, with the control server 22.The system bus may be any of several types of bus structures, includinga memory bus or memory controller, a peripheral bus, and a local bus,using any of a variety of bus architectures. By way of example, and notlimitation, such architectures include Industry Standard Architecture(ISA) bus, Micro Channel Architecture (MCA) bus, Enhanced ISA (EISA)bus, Video Electronic Standards Association (VESA) local bus, andPeripheral Component Interconnect (PCI) bus, also known as Mezzaninebus.

The control server 22 typically includes therein, or has access to, avariety of computer-readable media, for instance, database cluster 24.Computer-readable media can be any available media that may be accessedby server 22, and includes volatile and nonvolatile media, as well asremovable and non-removable media. By way of example, and notlimitation, computer-readable media may include computer storage mediaand communication media. Computer storage media may include, withoutlimitation, volatile and nonvolatile media, as well as removable andnon-removable media implemented in any method or technology for storageof information, such as computer-readable instructions, data structures,program modules, or other data. In this regard, computer storage mediamay include, but is not limited to, RAM, ROM, EEPROM, flash memory orother memory technology, CD-ROM, digital versatile disks (DVDs) or otheroptical disk storage, magnetic cassettes, magnetic tape, magnetic diskstorage, or other magnetic storage device, or any other medium which canbe used to store the desired information and which may be accessed bythe control server 22. Communication media typically embodiescomputer-readable instructions, data structures, program modules, orother data in a modulated data signal, such as a carrier wave or othertransport mechanism, and may include any information delivery media. Asused herein, the term “modulated data signal” refers to a signal thathas one or more of its attributes set or changed in such a manner as toencode information in the signal. By way of example, and not limitation,communication media includes wired media such as a wired network ordirect-wired connection, and wireless media such as acoustic, RF,infrared, and other wireless media. Combinations of any of the abovealso may be included within the scope of computer-readable media.

The computer storage media discussed above and illustrated in FIG. 1,including database cluster 24, provide storage of computer-readableinstructions, data structures, program modules, and other data for thecontrol server 22.

The control server 22 may operate in a computer network 26 using logicalconnections to one or more remote computers 28. Remote computers 28 maybe located at a variety of locations in a medical or researchenvironment, for example, but not limited to, clinical laboratories(e.g., molecular diagnostic laboratories), hospitals and other inpatientsettings, veterinary environments, ambulatory settings, medical billingand financial offices, hospital administration settings, home healthcare environments, and clinicians' offices. Clinicians may include, butare not limited to, a treating physician or physicians, specialists suchas surgeons, radiologists, cardiologists, and oncologists, emergencymedical technicians, physicians' assistants, nurse practitioners,nurses, nurses' aides, pharmacists, dieticians, microbiologists,laboratory experts, laboratory technologists, genetic counselors,researchers, veterinarians, students, and the like. The remote computers28 may also be physically located in non-traditional medical careenvironments so that the entire health care community may be capable ofintegration on the network. The remote computers 28 may be personalcomputers, servers, routers, network PCs, peer devices, other commonnetwork nodes, or the like, and may include some or all of the elementsdescribed above in relation to the control server 22. The devices can bepersonal digital assistants or other like devices.

Exemplary computer networks 26 may include, without limitation, localarea networks (LANs) and/or wide area networks (WANs). Such networkingenvironments are commonplace in offices, enterprise-wide computernetworks, intranets, and the Internet. When utilized in a WAN networkingenvironment, the control server 22 may include a modem or other meansfor establishing communications over the WAN, such as the Internet. In anetworked environment, program modules or portions thereof may be storedin association with the control server 22, the database cluster 24, orany of the remote computers 28. For example, and not by way oflimitation, various application programs may reside on the memoryassociated with any one or more of the remote computers 28. It will beappreciated by those of ordinary skill in the art that the networkconnections shown are exemplary and other means of establishing acommunications link between the computers (e.g., control server 22 andremote computers 28) may be utilized.

In operation, a clinician may enter commands and information into thecontrol server 22 or convey the commands and information to the controlserver 22 via one or more of the remote computers 28 through inputdevices, such as a keyboard, a pointing device (commonly referred to asa mouse), a trackball, or a touch pad. Other input devices may include,without limitation, microphones, satellite dishes, scanners, or thelike. Commands and information may also be sent directly from a remotehealthcare device to the control server 22. In addition to a monitor,the control server 22 and/or remote computers 28 may include otherperipheral output devices, such as speakers and a printer.

Although many other internal components of the control server 22 and theremote computers 28 are not shown, those of ordinary skill in the artwill appreciate that such components and their interconnection are wellknown. Accordingly, additional details concerning the internalconstruction of the control server 22 and the remote computers 28 arenot further disclosed herein.

FIG. 2 is an exemplary system architecture 200 suitable for use inimplementing embodiments of the present invention. Generally, theexemplary system architecture 200 advantageously allows forcommunication with medical devices, for example, through a bus orserver, instead of communication directly with the medical devices. Apatient to device association may be initiated, and the existence of abus or server may assist in maintaining that association until theoccurrence of a disassociation event. If a computing device, such as aPDA, for example, were to communicate directly with a medical device,the relationship or association between the patient and medical devicemay terminate when that particular medical device is no longer beingused for that particular patient. There may be instances, however, whena caregiver may want the association between that patient and medicaldevice to continue until the occurrence of some disassociation event. Inthat case, a bus may assist in maintaining and managing thatrelationship.

Initially, the exemplary system architecture 200 includes deviceconnectivity 210, device messaging services 212, and applicationservices 214. The device connectivity 210 includes one or more medicaldevices that are connected to the device messaging services 212 suchthat the devices may, at a later time, be associated to a particularpatient and/or an order. These devices may include, but are not limitedto monitors, cardiac ventilators, balloon pumps, patient beds, infusionpumps, sequential compression devices, electronic security devices,vital signs devices, or any other device that a health care provider mayuse for a patient while the patient is in the hospital. These devicesare shown in FIG. 2 as areas 216, 218, 220, 222, 224, and 226.

Each medical device may communicate with the device messaging services212 in a different way. For example, some devices, such as device 216,may utilize a device gateway 228. A gateway is generally a device thatconnects networks or other devices using different communicationsprotocols so that information can be easily passed from one to theother. A gateway may both transfer information and convert it to a formcompatible with the protocols used by the receiving network. Here, thedevice gateway assists in the transfer of data from the device 216 tothe device messaging services 212. As will be described in greaterdetail below, an adapter, such as adapter 240 may be used in instanceswhere the device gateway 228, was provided by the device manufacturer.The adapter 240 is typically used to facilitate communication from aconsumer to the gateway over the consumer's protocol. It should be notedthat an adapter may reside on or near the device messaging services, ormay reside near the actual device or device gateway. In other instances,a device gateway may be a third-party device gateway 230. In theseinstances, an adapter may not be necessary, as the device messagingservices 212 may already know what type of messages to expect from thatdevice 218 through the third-party device gateway 230. Many differentconnection types may be utilized between devices, gateway servers, andcomponents of the device messaging services 212, including, but notlimited to, HL7 TCP/IP, a software development kit (SDK), RS 232, etc.

Other devices, such as device 220, may have an internal gateway or othercomponent such that a gateway like 228 or 230 would not be needed. Thesedevices may have all of the required capability built into it, and, ifnecessary, may even have their own adapters incorporated therein suchthat a separate adapter would not be necessary. Still other devices,such as devices 222, 224, and 226, may be legacy devices that are olderand don't have networking built-ins. For example, it may not be possibleto plug in a CAT 5 network to the legacy devices, the devices may nothave wireless networking capabilities, etc. A serial port may be theonly connection mechanism that exists on these devices. For thesedevices, a connectivity engine 238 and device adapters 232, 234, and 236may be used.

The device adapter is a hardware device that is affixed directly ontothe medical device, and acts as the sole source of identification andconnection to the connectivity engine 238. Device adapters 232, 234, and236 are configurable with device specific information including, but notlimited to, manufacturer, device name, device model, port settings, andthe like. Device adapters 232, 234, and 236 may use various connectionmechanisms to connect to the connectivity engine 238 including, but notlimited to, Universal Serial Bus (USB) or Personal Area Network (PAN).

The connectivity engine 238 is a piece of hardware that may be connectedto devices 222, 224, and 226 either wirelessly or via a wiredconnection. In addition to the hardware portion of the connectivityengine 238, a software portion may also be included. Even if there is awired connection between the connectivity engine 238 and a device, theremay still be a wireless connection over a wireless network between theconnectivity engine 238 and the device messaging services 212. In oneembodiment, both a hardware and software portion of the connectivityengine 238 are located near the medical devices, as shown in FIG. 2. Inanother embodiment, however, the software portion of the connectivityengine 238 runs on the computing device (e.g., PDA, tablet PC) that isused to display data from medical devices, and may be located logicallywith the application services 214.

The connectivity engine 238 may also assist in detecting types ofdevices so that the appropriate driver may be loaded, which may be basedon the make and model of the particular device. The connectivity engine238 may be located on the device messaging services 212 or as part ofthe device subsystems 210, as illustrated in FIG. 2. The devicemessaging services 212 or a component thereof may communicate with theconnectivity engine 238 to establish a connection to the device itself.In one embodiment, the connectivity engine 238 may be physically presentin a patient's room so that when a new device, such as a legacy device,is brought into that room, it may be connected to the connectivityengine 238 if needed. At that time, a connect event may occur, and thedevice messaging services 212 may broadcast the connect event to othercomponents who may need to know.

The medical devices, either directly or indirectly through a gateway,connectivity engine, or other component are connected to the devicemessaging services 212. The device messaging services 212, in someembodiments, may generally include one or more adapters 240, one or morebus hosts, such as bus hosts 242 and 244, a main bus 246, a devicelifecycle 248, a driver library 250, and a device message routing 252.As previously described, an adapter may be used when the device gateway,such as device gateway 228, is provided by the manufacturer of a device,for example. The adapter 240 assists to facilitate communication from aconsumer to the gateway over the consumer's protocol. While one adapter240 is illustrated in FIG. 2, it is contemplated to be within the scopeof the present invention that more than one adapter 240 may be used. Inone embodiment, one adapter 240 may be used for more than one medicaldevice, but in another embodiment, each medical device requiring anadapter may require a separate adapter. Further, the adapter 240 may beused to communicate data from the device messaging services 212 tohealthcare system providers 254. In these cases, the data may not betransferred through any services or applications, but may be transferreddirectly to other healthcare system providers 254. Typically, an inboundand outbound adapter would be provided to transform messages to and froma standard format and protocol, such as HL7.

A bus host, such as bus host 242 or 244 may be used to perform severalfunctions, including, but not limited to, detecting hardware that isplugged in or directly connected to the host, loading appropriate devicedrivers after the device has been identified, dynamically locating andinstalling drivers if the driver is not currently present on the host,and for unloading the device driver after the device has beendisconnected. A bus host may not be utilized for each and every medicaldevice, but may be used for some that don't have device adapters, forexample, which perform many of the functions listed above. Theembodiment of FIG. 2, for example, has a bus host for devices 216, 218,and 220, which are not shown as having device adapters, such as deviceadapters 232, 234, and 236, nor do they require use of the connectivityengine 238. In addition to the above described functionality of the bushosts 242 and 244, they may also allow for communication to the deviceto get various types of information to and from the device. Thisinformation may be, for example, determining whether the bed rails areup or down, or even determining the patient's weight when the patient issitting or lying on the bed.

The main bus 246 provides connection framework, as it may create andmanage all connections to the device messaging services 212. The mainbus 246 also provides messaging architecture for the device messagingservices 212. The main functionality of the main bus 246 includesproviding general operational and management capabilities for connecteddevices, which may vary depending on the service that is subscribing orrequesting the data from the devices.

A device lifecycle 248 may detect the presence of a device on the mainbus 246. The device lifecycle 248 also may maintain an accuratedirectory of currently connected medical devices to the main bus 246 asvarious medical devices become connected. Further, it may ensure“active” connectivity of a medical device to the main bus 246 via adevice heartbeat. A heartbeat is an indication given at a certaininterval of time that a particular medical device is connected to themain bus 246. This interval may vary, and may be regular, such as every20 seconds, for example. Additionally, the interval may depend on eachmedical device. As a medical device deregisters, or becomes unconnectedto the main bus 246, the device lifecycle 248 may be responsible forsending out a notice of a disconnect event, and will then stop sendingthat device's heartbeat out to certain components that require thatinformation. There are various phases of the device lifecycle 248, whichmay include, in one embodiment, a notification phase that notifies of anevent generated at the device connection and of a device connected asdirectly to the main bus 246; an interrogation phase; an identificationphase that identifies the vendor, make, model, etc. of each medicaldevice and that finds and downloads the appropriate driver whennecessary; an activation phase that loads the device driver andregisters the medical devices; and an execution phase that isresponsible for tracking the medical devices' heartbeats and gathers andtransmits data to and from the medical devices.

A driver library 250 may store a plurality of drivers that may be usedand installed on particular devices, when required. Further, a devicemessage routing component 252 handles routing messages from source todestination across the device messaging services 212. Messages may takeon a variety of forms, and may contain vastly different types ofcontent. Various types of messaging may include request and replymessaging, publish and subscribe messaging, and asynchronous one-waymessaging. Request and reply messaging includes taking a message from asource, routing it to a single destination, and routing a reply messagefrom the destination back to the original source. Publish and subscribemessaging involves a publisher sending messages out on a named topic,which may be received by multiple subscribers. Asynchronous one-waymessaging includes doing requests and reply messaging without needing toreceive a reply. The only receipt message may be an indication that themessage was successfully sent.

With continued reference to FIG. 2, application services 214 includesvarious components, including healthcare system providers 254, adatabase 256, services 260, and an application 268. The services 260 mayconsume some or all of the information that the main bus 246 provides.In some instances, the services 260 may be application programminginterfaces (APIs), which may support requests made by computer programs,such as applications. For instance, the services 260 may use the mainbus 246 to determine where a connected device is located. The services214 may include various components that may all utilize information sentby the main bus 246. These may include, for example, an aggregationcomponent 262, a data store 264, and a patient to device association266, which is further discussed herein. The aggregation component 262allows for a user to query a patient by a patient identification over alarge number of patient identifications. Once a match is found,information relating to that patient, such as devices that the patientis associated with, may be retrieved. The data store 264 stores datathat is published by the medical devices.

In various embodiments of the present invention, the services 260 run onthe main bus 246, and thus together with the main bus 246, may provideadditional functionality to the system as a whole. For example, whenvarious services 260 run on the main bus 246, the main bus 246 may storediscrete data posts, such as heart rate, systolic blood pressure,diastolic blood pressure, etc., in a data store, such as data store 264,for historical queries and archiving. Further, the main bus 246 maychart acquired discrete data into a patient's EMR; publish medicaldevice outcomes, such as lab results and other test results, to apatient's EMR; and publish digital media from a device into a patient'sEMR, publish infusion data, if required, and infusion events (e.g.,infusion rate, volume infused, volume to be infused, rate change, beginbag, end bag) into a patient's EMR.

The application 268 works with the services 260 to facilitate specificfunctionality, such as chart documentation. The application 268, in oneembodiment, may be a user interface, such as the user interfacesillustrated in many of the figures associated with this application.Here, the user interfaces may be screen shots of associating a patientto a device, or to an order, for example. While one application 268 isillustrated in FIG. 2, more than one application is considered to bewell within the scope of the present invention. The services 260 and theapplication 268 are incorporated such that the services 260 retrieve rawdata from the main bus 246 and other components, while the application268 uses that information and presents it to a user through a userinterface.

While only a main bus 246 is illustrated in FIG. 2, more than one busmay be used in implementing embodiments of the present invention. By wayof example only and not limitation, the main bus 246 may be a first busthat is responsible for managing all of the medical devices. This mainbus 246 may be located at the facility, such as a hospital. One or morelocal busses may be present that can store and facilitate the transferof information from one or more medical devices, and that transfer thatinformation to the main bus 246. The main bus 246 may not even be awarethat there are local busses, as the local busses may just be proxyingmessages that they receive from the medical devices. Local busses mayalso be present at the facility (e.g., hospital), but may be physicallylocated in a patient's room, for example, such as on a cart where anassociated medical device is located. In one embodiment of the presentinvention, more than one main bus 246 may be available to provide abackup system. One main bus may be a primary node, and the other may bea secondary node. If one node goes down, the secondary node may beutilized. Additionally, the nodes or busses may be used in conjunctionwith one another such that each has certain responsibility, for example.

The database 256, in one embodiment, may be sent patient, medicaldevice, and order association information. For instance, identificationof a patient and medical device that have been associated may be sent tothe database 256. Any data that it released by the medical device mayalso be routed to the database 256 so that this information can bestored in a flowsheet, for example. A clinician may then make thedecision as to what to do with the data. For example, the clinician maydecide that certain data points should be included in the patient'schart, and the others may be completely deleted from the database 256. Aspecific example of this may be when a clinician looks at data in thedatabase 256 that is associated with a certain patient. The data mayinclude values at different times, such as 12:00 PM, 12:15 PM, and 12:30PM. The clinician may not wish for all of these values to be enteredinto the patient's chart, but may choose, for example, just the 12:00 PMand 12:30 PM entries to officially document. Additionally, having thisinformation in the database 256 allows for a higher accuracy. In oneinstance, a clinician may write down in a patient's chart that aninfusion pump began at 12:10 PM, when it actually started at 12:06 PM.Having this information in the database 256 allows for the clinician toofficially document accurate start and end times, as well as othervalues whose accuracy is important to the patient's health.

As previously discussed, various healthcare system providers 254 maywish to receive data or information regarding a particular medicaldevice or patient. In this case, the adapters 240 may be configured tosend this information via an HL7 or ASTM connection, for example, to thehealthcare system providers 254. In one embodiment, the services 260 maycommunicate with various healthcare system providers 254, and thiscommunication takes place via the main bus 246.

Turning now to FIG. 3, a block diagram is shown of an exemplary system300, in accordance with an embodiment of the present invention. Theexemplary system 300 initially includes application services 310, whichmay comprise several components, such as a database, various servicesthat request and utilize data from medical devices (e.g., aggregationservice, data store service, patient to device association services,chart documentation service), and various applications on which theservices run. Application services 310 is described in further detail inthe discussion of FIG. 2 herein. Device messaging services 312 mayinclude a main bus, which is a central bus or server that is responsiblefor receiving and delivering data from medical devices to variousapplications and services. Device messaging services is also describedin further detail in the discussion of FIG. 2 herein. Medical devices314 may include any medical devices and associated components (e.g.,device gateways, connectivity engine, device adapters) that are or maybe connected, directly or indirectly, to the main bus, such as main bus246 in FIG. 2.

The main bus 316, as described above, includes a plurality ofcomponents, each being responsible for tasks associated with providingdata from the medical devices to various services and applications. Themain bus 316 includes a receiving component 318, an associatingcomponent 320, an acquiring component 322, a transmitting component 324,and a publishing component 326. While these five components are includedin the embodiment of FIG. 3, it will become apparent to one of ordinaryskill in the art that any number of components, either more or less thanthe illustrated five, may be used to accomplish the purposes of thepresent invention. Therefore, other components are contemplated to bewithin the scope of the present invention. For example, a displayingcomponent may be includes that communicates the data for display suchthat the data can be manipulated by a user.

The receiving component 318 receives identifications for the patient andthe medical device. The identifications may be received in a number ofways, including, but certainly not limited to, scanning a barcodeassociated with the patient or the medical device, entering a name oridentification associated with the patient or medical device, orsearching an electronically searchable database for a patient or medicaldevice. Further, more than one patient or medical device may beidentified.

The associating component 320 associates the identified patient and theidentified medical device in response to receiving an indication thatthe patient and the medical device are to be associated. This indicationmay take many forms. An explicit association may be available to theuser, such as through a selectable button on the display device.Alternatively, an implicit association, such as a button that allows theuser to acquire data from the medical device, may be available to theuser. In one embodiment, once that button is selected, the identifiedpatient and medical device may be associated, prior to or simultaneousto receiving data from the medical device.

The acquiring component 322 acquires the data from the medical devicethat has been associated to the identified patient. The acquiringcomponent 322 may request the data from the medical device from which itrequires the data. The medical device, in one embodiment, may send themost recent data that it has for the patient to the acquiring component322.

The transmitting component 324 transmits the acquired data to arequesting application or service so that the data can be manipulatedprior to being stored in the EMR corresponding to the patient. Forinstance, the chart documentation services 267 application may haverequested the data. Alternatively, in one embodiment, the main bus 316or a component thereof (e.g., the transmitting component 324) mayrequest the data from the medical device, and may send the data to anapplication or a service, such as the chart documentation services 267,without having received a request for the data by the application orservice. That application or service may store the data in a format suchthat a user has the capability to manipulate or edit the data prior tothe data being transmitted to the patient's EMR, where the data isindefinitely stored for future reference. For instance, the datatransferred to the application or service may be vital information for apatient, but a clinician may wish to update one or more of the valuesmanually, and as such, may be able to edit the one or more values in theapplication or service. Further, one or more fields, such as drop-downfields that have options from which a user may select, may beintentionally left blank for a user, such as a clinician, to complete.

The publishing component 326 publishes, or transmits the data to the EMRthat corresponds to the patient in response to receiving an indicationthat the data is to be transmitted to the EMR. As previously mentioned,a user, such as a clinician, may have the opportunity to review theacquired data in a format that allows the user to edit the data, ifdesired. Once the information has been reviewed and has been determinedto be accurate, and once the user has had the opportunity to edit or addany other information, the user may select a button, such as a signbutton, that indicates that the data is ready to be transmitted orpublished to the patient's EMR.

FIG. 4 is an illustrative flow diagram of a method 400 forelectronically transferring data associated with a patient from amedical device to an EMR corresponding to a patient, in accordance withan embodiment of the present invention. Initially, at step 410, anidentification of the medical device is received. For example, FIG. 6illustrates a screen display 600 showing a selected device, inaccordance with an embodiment of the present invention. Area 610indicates that a patient has not yet been selected, or identified, and asearch button 611 is provided to allow a user to search in anelectronically searchable database for a particular patient. Medicaldevices may be identified in a number of ways, including, but notlimited to, scanning a barcode associated with the device, entering aname or identification associated with the device, or searching anelectronically searchable database for a medical device, as mentionedabove. Area 612 indicates that one device has been selected oridentified, and at area 614, various types of information associatedwith the identified medical device are displayed. This informationincludes, but is not limited to, vendor, model, and status informationassociated with the device.

In one embodiment, a medical device is scanned (e.g., using a barcodeassociated with the device) or otherwise identified, but the informationdisplayed in area 614 indicates that the medical device is associated orcurrently being used by another patient. The user, in this case, mayhave the option to change the association from the currently associatedpatient to the identified patient, or may choose to select a differentmedical device, such as by removing all selected devices by using aremove all button 616, and by selecting a device search 618 button. Asmentioned previously, selecting the device search 618 button is just oneway of identifying a medical device. As illustrated, each device has abox that can be checked, as is illustrated in the embodiment of FIG. 6.

Returning to FIG. 4, at step 420, an identification of a first patientis received. This identification may be received in a number of ways,including, but certainly not limited to, scanning a barcode associatedwith the patient, entering a name or identification associated with thepatient, searching an electronically searchable database for a patient,etc. Further, more than one patient may be identified. To illustrate theidentification of a patient and a medical device, FIG. 7 is provided.FIG. 7 illustrates a screen display 700 showing an identified patientand an identified medical device, in accordance with an embodiment ofthe present invention. The patient is identified, as shown in area 710.In addition to displaying the patient's name, the patient's date ofbirth, identification numbers, and gender are also displayed. Otherembodiments may include other information that assists in identifyingthe patient. Another patient may be searched for by using a searchbutton 711, as mentioned above. Once the device is associated, asindicated by area 712, and descriptive information for this medicaldevice is displayed in area 714, including vendor, model, and statusinformation. Other embodiments may include different information. Themedical devices that have been selected (e.g., the box has been checked)may be removed by selecting the remove all button 716.

Once the medical device and patient have been identified, a user mayselect an acquire data button 718 that retrieves data (e.g., via theacquiring component 322) from the identified medical device and loads itinto an application or service so that the user is able to manipulatethe data, if necessary. At area 720, a user may select the device searchbutton 720, which provides one way of identifying a medical device. Morethan one medical device may be identified and displayed on a screendisplay, such as the screen display 700.

Returning to FIG. 4, at step 430, a user selection to associate thefirst patient to the medical device is received. This user selection maytake the form of a user selecting a button that indicates that the userwishes to receive data corresponding to the first patient from themedical device, such as the acquire data button 718 in FIG. 7, discussedabove. Prior to or simultaneous to receiving the data, the first patientand the medical device may be associated. In response to receiving theuser selection to associate the first patient and the medical device toone another, the data associated with the first patient is acquired fromthe medical device at step 440. At step 450, the data is communicatedfor display in a format that allows a user to manipulate the data. Forexample, FIG. 8, illustrates a screen display 800 showing data acquiredfrom a medical device, in accordance with an embodiment of the presentinvention. The patient is identified in area 810, and a search button811 is provided as one way of identifying a new patient. Area 812identifies the associated device, and in area 814, the data acquiredfrom the device is displayed.

In the embodiment of FIG. 8, vital information was taken for theidentified patient, which includes diastolic blood pressure, systolicblood pressure, heart rate, temperature, and pulse rate. Although vitalinformation is shown in FIG. 8, any other type of data than can beacquired from a medical device is contemplated to be within the scope ofthe present invention. As previously mentioned, data may be edited oradded prior to being transmitted to the patient's EMR. For instance, thedata transferred to an application or service may be vital informationfor a patient, such as is shown in FIG. 8, but a clinician may wish toupdate one or more of the values manually, and as such, may be able toedit the one or more values in the application or service. Further, oneor more fields, such as drop-down fields that have options from which auser may select, may be intentionally left blank for a user, such as aclinician, to complete.

For example, several data field boxes are left blank in FIG. 8, so as toallow a user to fill them in. Further, the data fields may be defined bythe user, such that if the user finds it necessary to add an additionaldata field that is not currently displayed, the user can add theadditional data field(s) to add more information. Here, data field box816 is an example of a box that has had data transferred to it from themedical device, and data field box 818 is an example of a box, here adrop-down box, that allows the user to fill in additional informationfor the identified patient. For instance, the user may choose toidentify how the blood pressure was taken on the patient, such as if thepatient was sitting, standing, or supine. Another drop-down box may beavailable to identify where the temperature was taken on the patient,such as orally, rectally, in the ear, under the arm, etc. Other examplesof data fields in the embodiment of FIG. 8 that allow a user to fill inadditional information include the respiratory rate of the patient, or apain scale of the patient. As previously mentioned, the user has theoption to customize the displayed data fields.

Area 820 displays the time and date when the data was acquired from themedical device. At any time, a user may be able to get the most updateddata from the medical device by selecting a reacquire data button, suchas button 822. The information in areas 814 and 820 may be updated whendata is reacquired. As mentioned, once the user has verified theinformation, a sign button 824 may be selected, and the data can then betransmitted to the patient's EMR, as will be described in more detailbelow. Although a sign button is provided in the embodiment of FIG. 8,other methods of indicating that the data is to be sent to the patient'sEMR are contemplated to be within the scope of the present invention.

Returning to FIG. 4, at step 460, an indication that the data is to betransmitted to the patient's EMR is received, and the data istransmitted to the patient's EMR at step 470. Once a user, such as aclinician, has verified that the data from the medical device isaccurate, and had edited or added information as needed, the userindicates (e.g., sign button 824 of FIG. 8) that the data is ready to betransmitted to the patient's EMR for future retrieval. At this point,the data has been authenticated by the user. At step 480, upontransmitting the data to the first patient's EMR, the first patient andthe medical device are disassociated such that a second patient can beassociated to the medical device. This disassociation may not be anexplicit disassociation, but may be an implicit disassociation, whereinthe patient's identification is automatically removed from the screendisplay without receiving an explicit indication from a user that thepatient and medical device should be disassociated.

In one embodiment, once the data from the first patient is transmittedto that patient's EMR, the disassociation occurs, thereby allowing foranother patient to be identified and associated to the same medicaldevice. In one instance, the medical device does not need to beidentified again. An illustrative embodiment of this is shown in FIG. 9,which is an illustrative screen display 900 showing a patient havingbeen disassociated from the medical device upon data associated with thepatient being transmitted to the patient's EMR.

Initially, area 910 illustrates that no patient has yet been selected,as the last patient that was associated with the device has been removedand automatically disassociated. Area 912 indicates that one device,which is the same device, is still selected. Information for the medicaldevice is shown in area 914. A new patient may be identified in any ofthe ways described above, including the use of a search button 911 forsearching an electronically searchable database having a plurality ofpatients, such as patients that are currently admitted in a particularhospital, or patients of a particular doctor's office. If another deviceis desired, the remove all button 916 may be selected to remove one ormore devices that have been selected (e.g., by checking the checkbox),and the device search button 918 may be selected to search for anotherdevice. As previously mentioned, other methods for identifying a devicemay also be available.

As mentioned above, at step 470, the data is transmitted to thepatient's EMR. FIG. 10 illustrates a screen display 1000 that shows apatient's EMR after receiving transmitted data taken from a medicaldevice, in accordance with an embodiment of the present invention. Area1010 contains information about the patient to which the EMR belongs. Aninformation display portion 1012 of the screen display 1000 illustratesthe data that was transmitted from the application or service to theEMR. For instance, the patient's vitals are shown in the embodiment ofFIG. 10, as the medical device associated to the patient was a devicethat takes vitals. Thus, a temperature, heart rate, pulse rate, andblood pressure are displayed in the patient's EMR. Here, the patient'svitals were taken at three separate times: first at 2:25 PM as indicatedin area 1014, a second time at 2:27 PM as indicated in area 1016, and athird time at 2:32 PM as indicated in area 1018. In one embodiment, auser may identify a patient three separate times to record vitals atthree separate times in the patient's EMR, but in another embodiment,the user may be able to identify, and therefore associate the patient tothe medical device one time, and continue taking readings from themedical device, and have all of the data transmitted to the patient'sEMR.

In one embodiment, an identification of a second patient is received,and a user selection is received to associate the second patient to themedical device. As mentioned, this indication may be the selection of abutton, such as an acquire data button, or a link, that acts as aretrieval mechanism that retrieves the data from the medical device. Thedata associated with the second patient is then acquired from the secondmedical device. This process may continue with a third patient, a fourthpatient, etc.

In still another embodiment, one or more medical devices may besuggested to the user. The medical devices may be suggested based on anumber of factors. The user may then select one of the suggested medicaldevices, and that user selection is received. The patient and theselected device may be associated, and the data associated with thefirst patient may be acquired from the selected medical device. Themedical devices may be suggested based on, for exemplary purposes only,a location of the patient. For instance, the patient may be located inthe intensive care unit (ICU) of a hospital, and medical devicestypically used in the ICU may be suggested. Alternatively, the medicaldevices may be suggested based on a diagnosis or treatment of thepatient. Still yet, the medical devices may be suggested based on one ormore demographics of the user, such as the user's age, gender, or thelike.

Turning now to FIG. 5, an illustrative flow diagram is shown of a method500 for electronically transferring data associated with a patient froma medical device to an electronic medical record (EMR), in accordancewith an embodiment of the present invention. While FIG. 4, as describedabove, illustrates a user first identifying a medical device followed bya patient, FIG. 5 illustrates first identifying a patient, and then amedical device. Thus, initially, at step 510, an identification of afirst patient is received. FIGS. 11 and 12 further illustrate theidentification of a patient. For example, FIG. 11 is an illustrativescreen display 1100 showing a method of searching for a patient in adatabase, in accordance with an embodiment of the present invention.This is just one method of identifying a patient, and others arecontemplated to be within the scope of the invention. Here, a patientmay be searched for utilizing the search box, shown by area 1110. Thesearch may be performed using the patient's name (e.g., first name, lastname) or the patient's identification number, and by selecting a searchbutton 1114. Area 1112 is a patient list area that displays the patientsthat are found in the database, and may include some information aboutthe patient that may assist in verifying that the correct patient isidentified. As shown here, gender and date of birth information isdisplayed for one or more of the patients.

Once a patient has been identified by one of many available methods,information corresponding to the patient may be displayed on a screendisplay, as illustrated by FIG. 12. FIG. 12 is an illustrative screendisplay 1200 showing an identified patient, in accordance with anembodiment of the present invention. The patient information, such asthe patient's name, date of birth, and identification number(s), isdisplayed in area 1210. Area 1212 indicates that no device has yet beenselected, and a device search button 1214 is provided as one method foridentifying a medical device.

Referring back to FIG. 5, an identification of a medical device isreceived at step 520. In the embodiment of FIG. 5, the identifiedmedical device and related information (e.g., vendor, model, status) maynot be displayed, but the data from the medical device corresponding tothe identified patient may be immediately acquired and displayed. Thus,unlike the embodiment of FIG. 4, it is not required here that the userselect an acquire data button to associate the patient and medicaldevice and to acquire the data, as once the medical device isidentified, the data may be displayed.

At step 530, the data associated with the first patient is acquired fromthe medical device in response to receiving the identification of themedical device. The first patient and the medical device are associatedto one another, as shown at step 540. At step 550, the data iscommunicated for display such that the data can be manipulated by auser. FIG. 13 illustrates a screen display 1300 that shows data acquiredfrom a medical device, in accordance with an embodiment of the presentinvention. The patient is identified in area 1310, along with patientinformation, such as the patient's date of birth, and one or moreidentification numbers. At area 1312, the medical device from which thedata has been acquired is identified. The acquired data is displayed inarea 1314. In this embodiment, the medical device took vital informationfrom the patient, and thus vital information is displayed in the area1314. The area 1314 includes information such as diastolic bloodpressure, systolic blood pressure, heart rate, temperature, pulse rate,etc. This data acquired from the medical device is shown in data fields,such as data field 1316.

Other data fields are shown, such as item 1318, which has beenintentionally left blank for the user, such as a clinician, to fill in.These data fields include how the blood pressure was taken (e.g.,sitting, standing, supine), where the temperature was taken on thepatient's body (e.g., oral, rectal, from the ear, under the arm), thepatient's respiratory rate, and pain scale. These fields, althoughillustrated in the embodiment of FIG. 13, may be customizable by theuser, and thus other embodiments of the present invention may includedifferent data fields for the user to fill in. Area 1320 displays whenthe data was acquired from the device, and may include information suchas a date and time. At any time, the user may request to have the mostupdated data sent from the medical device by selecting a reacquire databutton 1322. In this instance, a user selection may be received toobtain updated data associated with the patient from the medical device.The updated data may be acquired from the medical device, and the datamay be communicated for display such that the updated data can bemanipulated by the user in a similar manner as the initial data.

An indication that the data is to be transmitted to the first patient'sEMR is received at step 560. This indication may take one of many forms.For example, returning to FIG. 13, once the user has verified the dataand added or edited any information as necessary, a sign button 1324 maybe selected, which provides an indication that the data is ready to besent to the patient's EMR. At this point, the data has beenauthenticated by the user. At step 570, the data is transmitted to thefirst patient's EMR. In one embodiment, once the data is transmitted,the first patient and the medical device are no longer associated. Thisdisassociation of the patient and the medical device may not beexplicit, but may be implicit, such that the user doesn't have toprovide any indication that they are to be disassociated. In anotherembodiment, an explicit disassociation is required to disassociate thepatient and the medical device, wherein the user has to actively selecta button or otherwise provide an indication that the patient and medicaldevice are to be disassociated.

In a further embodiment, which is illustrated in FIG. 14, once the datais transmitted to the patient's EMR, the medical device and patient,having been disassociated upon the transmittal of data to the EMR, areno longer displayed on the screen display, and thus a patient andmedical device must be identified in order to be associated. FIG. 14 isan exemplary screen display 1400 illustrating the previously identifiedmedical device and patient no longer being displayed on the display oncethe data has been transferred to the patient's EMR. Area 1410 indicatesthat a patient is not currently identified, and may be searched forusing a search button 1411. Other methods of identifying a patient, asdiscussed herein, may also be used. Similarly, area 1412 indicates thata medical device is not currently identified, and also may be searchedfor by the selection of a device search button 1414, although othermethods of identifying a medical device may also be used.

Once the data corresponding to the first patient is sent to the firstpatient's EMR, an identification of a second patient may be received.Upon receiving the identification, the data from the medical device maybe acquired, wherein the data corresponds to the second patient, and maybe the most updated data corresponding to that patient. The medicaldevice may then be associated with the second patient.

It will be understood that certain features and sub-combinations ofutility may be employed without reference to features andsub-combinations and are contemplated within the scope of the claims.Furthermore, the steps performed need not be performed in the orderdescribed.

1. One or more computer-readable storage media havingcomputer-executable instructions embodied thereon, that, when executedperform a method for electronically transferring data associated with apatient from a medical device to an electronic medical record (EMR) thatcorresponds to the patient, the method comprising: receiving anidentification of the medical device; receiving an identification of afirst patient; receiving a user selection to associate the first patientto the medical device; in response to receiving the user selection toassociate the first patient to the first medical device, acquiring thedata associated with the first patient from the medical device;communicating the data for display in a format that allows a user tomanipulate the data; receiving an indication that the data is to betransmitted to the EMR that corresponds to the patient; transmitting thedata to the EMR that corresponds to the first patient; and upontransmitting the data to the EMR, disassociating the first patient andthe medical device such that a second patient can be associated to themedical device.
 2. The media of claim 1, further comprising: receivingan identification of a second patient; receiving the user selection toassociate the second patient to the medical device; and acquiring thedata associated with the second patient from the medical device.
 3. Themedia of claim 1, wherein the user selection to associate the firstpatient to the medical device comprises the user selection of a linkthat retrieves the data from the medical device.
 4. The media of claim1, further comprising: suggesting at least one medical device; receivingthe user selection of one of the at least one medical device;associating the first patient to the one of the at least one medicaldevice; and acquiring the data associated with the first patient fromthe one of the at least one medical device.
 5. The media of claim 4,wherein the at least one medical device is suggested based on a locationof the first patient.
 6. The media of claim 4, wherein the at least onemedical device is suggested based on a diagnosis of the first patient.7. The media of claim 1, wherein receiving an indication that the datais to be transmitted to the EMR that corresponds to the first patientindicates that the user has reviewed the data such that the data isready to be transmitted to the EMR corresponding to the first patient.8. A system having a processor and one or more computer-readable storagemedia for electronically transferring data associated with a patientfrom a medical device to an electronic medical record (EMR) thatcorresponds to the patient, the system comprising: a receiving componentfor receiving identifications for the patient and the medical device; anassociating component for associating the patient to the medical devicein response to receiving an indication that the patient and the medicaldevice are to be associated; an acquiring component for acquiring thedata from the medical device that is associated with the patient; atransmitting component for transmitting the acquired data to arequesting application so that the data can be manipulated prior tobeing stored in the EMR corresponding to the patient; and a publishingcomponent for publishing the data to the EMR that corresponds to thepatient in response to receiving an indication that the data is to betransmitted to the EMR.
 9. The system of claim 8, wherein the data thatis transmitted to the requesting application is displayed in a formatthat allows the user to add information corresponding to the patientthat is not included in the data acquired from the medical device. 10.One or more computer-readable storage media having computer-executableinstructions embodied thereon, that, when executed perform a method forelectronically transferring data associated with a patient from amedical device to an electronic medical record (EMR) that corresponds tothe patient, the method comprising: receiving an identification of afirst patient; receiving an identification of the medical device; inresponse to receiving the identification of the medical device,acquiring the data associated with the first patient from the medicaldevice; associating the first patient and the medical device to oneanother; communicating the data for display such that the data can bemanipulated by a user; receiving an indication that the data is to betransmitted to the first patient's EMR; and transmitting the data to thefirst patient's EMR, wherein once the data is transmitted to the firstpatient's EMR, the first patient and the medical device are no longerassociated.
 11. The media of claim 10, wherein the medical devicecomprises each of a plurality of medical devices.
 12. The media of claim11, further comprising receiving an indication of one of the pluralityof medical devices from which to acquire the data.
 13. The media ofclaim 10, further comprising: once the data is sent to the firstpatient's EMR, receiving an identification of a second patient;acquiring the data from the medical device, wherein the data isassociated with the second patient; and associating the medical deviceand the second patient to one another.
 14. The media of claim 10,wherein the identification of one or more of the first patient or themedical device is received by scanning a barcode associated with thefirst patient or the medical device.
 15. The media of claim 10, whereinthe identification of one or more of the first patient or the medicaldevice is received by a user selection of the first patientidentification or the medical device identification found in anelectronically searchable database that contains a plurality ofidentifications.
 16. The media of claim 10, wherein the data acquiredfrom the medical device includes vital information taken from the firstpatient, the vital information including one or more of a bodytemperature, blood pressure, respiration, or pulse.
 17. The media ofclaim 10, wherein the data is authenticated once it is transmitted tothe first patient's EMR.
 18. The media of claim 10, further comprising;receiving a user selection to receive updated data associated with thefirst patient from the medical device; acquiring the updated data fromthe medical device; and communicating the updated data for display suchthat the updated data can be manipulated by the user.
 19. The media ofclaim 10, wherein the data is communicated for display into a formatthat allows the user to add information corresponding to the firstpatient that is not included in the data acquired from the medicaldevice.
 20. The media of claim 10, further comprising disassociating thefirst patient and the medical device from one another.